Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Album Review - Destroyer

Destroyer – Trouble in Dreams[Merge/ Rough Trade; 18/03/2008]

Daniel Bejar is a musician that has his fingers in a lot pies. Forever an active spirit in the indie music scene, Bejar is embroiled in five different projects, which doesn’t include his solo work, which is essentially why we are here today. The Vancouver native unleashes ninth solo album, Trouble in Dreams that is an accessible beast that witnesses Bejar in a slightly different manner.

Bejar has always been a hard strength of mind to nail down. With a nasally vocal at the forefront, some listeners tend to endure a complexity whilst in the company of one of his records. This time around, however, it’s most definitely not the case.

‘Blue Flower/Blue Flame’ is full of melody and beguiling guitar riffs, while ‘My Favorite Year’ is a longwinded affair with gusty instrumentation leading the forefront. ‘Introducing Angels’ is Bejar at his simplistic best, improvising with a single verse and drawing it out like an elastic band, singing ‘Common of scars, brought us together, ahhh ahhh’.

Sometimes when listening to Destroyer records, you feel compelled to listen to the entirety without necessarily enjoying it. Trouble in Dreams doesn’t possess this inferiority, as there’s far too much eminence to show nothing but willingness and gratification at the same time.

Coupled by unique vocal pipes and haunting lyrics are some very distinguishing guitar thrusts, which are like the last piece to a jigsaw puzzle. Don’t be surprised when Trouble in Dreams ends up in people’s best of 2008 polls, because although it’s quite early in the year to be thinking about such a thing, it’s evident that Destroyer’s latest opus is a mainstay.